The London Waste and Recycling Board (LWARB) has announced that 294,000 flats will get improved recycling services thanks to grants totalling £3.7million.

The funding is being awarded to 18 boroughs including Hounslow, Richmond, Merton, Wandsworth and Ealing, who successfully bid for support to roll out new recycling services as well as make improvements to existing services. This includes new food waste recycling facilities, underground recycling storage systems and a recycling incentive scheme - which rewards residents with points which can be exchanged for eco goods or community projects. These initiatives should result in 32,000 tonnes of waste being recycled instead of dumped in landfill, over the course of four years.

Flats and multi-occupancy buildings account for around 50 per cent of all housing in London but recycling collected from these properties is currently standing at around 10 per cent, significantly lower than houses. The funding announced today is in addition to £1.35 million invested in a first round of funding for flats recycling in June 2010. The first round funded nine projects, across 12 boroughs. These included distributing reusable bags to enable residents to easily transport their recycling to communal bins, recycling containers on each floor of blocks of flats and the conversion of waste chutes into recycling chutes making it easier to recycle from top floor properties.

The Mayor of London Boris Johnson, said: "I know the good people of London's suburbs are keen to be green and to recycle whatever they can. I'm also aware that it is not always easy to do that and in my ongoing determination to make life easier and to raise the standard of living of all Londoners, I'm delighted we can now provide these innovative solutions."

James Cleverly, Chair of LWARB, said: "Both round one and two of the Flats Recycling Programme has helped 26 boroughs improve recycling facilities and boost recycling rates from over 520,000 flats. Some residents will be able to recycle from their property for the first time, as well as new materials including food waste and small electrical goods. This is a great step towards making it easier for residents living in these properties to recycle."

The programme has funded 29 projects in total, across 26 boroughs, seeing an average recycling increase of 43 per cent per project. Over the first four years, both round one and two of funding will deliver improved recycling facilities to over 520,000 households, diverting around 75,000 tonnes of waste from landfill and prevent almost 66,000 tonnes of CO2 from entering the atmosphere.

The entire £5m Programme budget has been allocated to successful bids, with savings of up to £200,000 expected to be made through the joint procurement of equipment such as reusable bags and recycling bins. All successful schemes are due to be fully operational by March 2012.